Post
by 84Sunbird2000 » Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:56 am
Is W&L a National School? Well, here are the US News regional breakdowns for employment.
2007 Graduates Employment Location
Graduates employed in-state 26%
Graduates employed in foreign countries 1%
Number of states where graduates are employed 30
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) 2.0%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) 17.0%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) 4.0%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) 1.0%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) 47.0%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) 5.0%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) 5.0%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) 5.0%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) 6.0%
Employment location unknown 7.0%
Only 1/4 in-state, and 47% in home region. In fact, 30 states of employment for only 125 graduating students is incredible. Places well into NY (that's a lot of that 17% Mid-Atlantic). But, as you can see, there are a smattering of students in every region. Considering how rural and small W and L is, with an expected self-selection bias towards the general region, W&L has great reach.
Plus, 9% Federal Clerkships is a huge mark indicating its prestige.
For comparison with schools in the same region and general ranking:
Willam and Mary
2007 Graduates Employment Location
Graduates employed in-state 29%
Graduates employed in foreign countries 1%
Number of states where graduates are employed 28
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) 3.7%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) 15.0%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) 3.0%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) 1.6%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) 60.0%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) 0.5%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) 3.7%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) 3.7%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) 5.8%
Employment location unknown 2.0%
More in-state, more South Atlantic, and less states covered with a much larger class.
George Washington
Graduates employed in-state 49%
Graduates employed in foreign countries 0%
Number of states where graduates are employed 34
New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) 3.0%
Middle Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA) 17.0%
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) 3.0%
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) 1.0%
South Atlantic (DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) 65.0%
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) 0.0%
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) 1.0%
Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) 6.0%
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY) 2.0%
Employment location unknown 2.0%
It makes sense that GW would be heavily DC-zoned, but it's still telling to see just how heavily concentrated it is. It's probably largely a function of alumni networks that are tied to one place, while W&L has a wider dispersal - kindof like Notre Dame.
A brief look at some other schools in rank or area.
UNC - 61% in-state, 81% in region. Of course, with NC's residency quota, self-selection is especially prominent here.
Wake Forest - 46% in-state, 81% in region, 24-state max spread with much less even distribution compared to W&L
Emory - 42% in-state (i.e. Atlanta), 56% South Atlantic, 21% Mid-Atlantic, 28-state Spread. Similar overall.
Notre Dame - 10% In-state, but very centered on a few regions. East North Central 40%, South Atlantic 17%, Mid-Atlantic 17%, Pacific 11%, West South Central 5%, almost nothing outside these. W&L is notable for putting 4% or more into 6 regions. The fact that placement is good in the Mountain West for W&L is especially interesting.
Boston University - 42% Northeast, 29% Mid-Atlantic, 9% South Atlantic, 10% Pacific, that's it.
Many of the Midwest state schools are Midwest-centric and public (which exacerbates self-selection usually), so W&L will likely spread more than them.
Now, I realize that Washington and Lee's wide spread is mainly because of the small legal markets nearby, but even so, the end result of a more national alumni network as well as a more national name is pretty indisputable. It's not Duke or Cornell, but it's also historically a Top 20 school (and has higher Judge/Peer rep scores than it's range to back that up).
